Likened by The New York Times to ‘the Lady Gaga of the design world: a constant font of ideas and energy who is nearly impossible to ignore’, Dutch designer Marcel Wanders has recently collaborated on yet another product for the Italian plastic furniture specialists, Magis. Presented in brand’s own showroom at Design Post during this year’s edition of imm cologne, ‘Cyborg‘ is now available in two different versions: entirely made of polycarbonate or with polycarbonate legs and seat and a contrasting wicker back.

'Cyborg' chair by Marcel Wanders for Magis

More about the inspiration behind ‘Cyborg’:

‘A cyborg is an organism that has both artificial and natural systems. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes. In 1965, D.S. Halacy’s ‘Cyborg: Evolution of the Superman’ featured an introduction which spoke of a ‘bridge… between mind and matter.’ Fictional cyborgs are portrayed as a synthesis of organic and synthetic parts. Often their presence calls into question the difference between humans and machines as concerned with morality, free will, and empathy. The friction we feel between the natural and the artificial world is in fact a misconception; as there is no artificial world, there is only a natural world under the influence of its very own nature.

‘Everything has been done. There are no new ideas left. Whatever we can think of… has been done before. We cannot invent lollipops any more, nor table-tennis, not soccer nor skyscrapers, not books nor virtual money. We cannot invent electronic agendas nor new excuses to be too late. But in the world of our dreams we are constantly searching for new inventions. Looking for unknown species from the large family of little imaginative ideas.

‘We can twist the world and its entangled constructions to surprise each other with untried and unexpected changes… with funny poetic insights… with technical twists that breathe new life into the world. To try to be only truthful is a cliché, a creative failing. We have to remind ourselves of the story tales we were told as children, these well-intended lies that taught us how to dream. As designers we have to lie like poets, to pair the unexpected to convey our imaginative vision. We can enhance the world with a dream, a pairing. I love these little moments…they are always welcome in my world!’